Deacons - Tuesday With Timothy #32

1 Timothy 3:8 - 13  Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless. Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things. Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Moving on from the office of the bishop, or the pastor, we move to the next office of the church, that of deacon. When a church is healthy, a good pastor will provide the spiritual leadership and spiritual food for the church by preaching God's Word. The church is not a one man band and if the pastor is left to do everything, he won't get around to do much of anything. A deacon is a man who is ordained and set apart for a particular work in the church.

The office of deacon was not an original position when the church was organized. Early in the book of Acts, there were problems in the church where some groups felt that some widows in the church were being neglected. They were complaining to the Apostles about these needs. The men of God said that it wasn't right for them to leave the task that Jesus had given them to take care of issues that should have been taken care of by the church members.

It wasn't that it was not an important issue, it was that the Apostles, who were charged with feeding the flock didn't have time to be taking care of every issue in the church. They instructed the church to select seven men who would be able to serve the church so that the men of God could do the work that they were called to. When they took the load of serving tables from the men who were to serve the Word, God blessed the church and the Word of God increased.

The word deacon is a transliterated word which, according to Thayer means:

1.  to be a servant, attendant, domestic, to serve, wait upon
2. to minister to one, render ministering offices to
3.  to wait at a table and offer food and drink to the guests
4.  to minister, i.e. supply food and necessities of life

The primary purpose of the church is not just to exist. Self-preservation is not the commission of the church. The church is to glorify God and proclaim the Word of God. There are other areas, other jobs, and other fields of service, but this is the primary purpose. To go, to make disciples, baptize them, and then teach them. The deacons fill the role of coming in and making sure the pastor the church called is able to do the job they need him to do. The church isn't Washington D.C. where the pastor and deacon has separate but equal powers. The elders of a church should have the same goal in mind and working together to reach that goal. When that happens, God will bless the deacons, God will bless the pastor, and God will bless the church.

That is why it is important that the church select good deacons. There are qualifications to the office, just like a pastor. Verse eight starts off by saying "likewise" and lists some things that both the pastor and the deacon should have in common that we have dealt with in earlier posts.

Book Illustrations: A Great Leap of Joy

Art work from The Story of a Proverb by Sidney Lanier. The Grand Vizier was really happy he wasn't beheaded for failing to cover the entire earth in leather to keep the king from hurting his toes. 

The Eternality of God by Lewis Kiger

This is part three in the series by Lewis Kiger on the attributes of God. 

How old is God? Will God ever die?

As we strive to get to know God better we must quickly acknowledge that this Attribute is one of the most difficult qualities of God for us to understand.

1 Timothy 1:17 Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

 Note that is this text, God is called the Eternal, Immortal King. The writer it teaching us that God has no beginning and no ending. God has always been, and always will be. Before the stars were thrust out into space and given a name by their Creator, God was there. Before the first angel’s wing brushed along the halls of heaven, God existed. Long after the sands of time have fallen, and this earth has been renovated by fire, even then, God will still be the Ruler of all. We find the concept of Eternality so difficult, because we are mere mortals contemplating the Immortal.

  

  Just think – nearly everything we do is governed by time. What time we must get up in the mornings. What time we have to “clock in.” When is lunch time? Break time? QUITTING TIME! Our days start and end with time. And further yet, all are days are numbered (Job 14:5). We only have so much time here on this earth and we have watches, clocks, and calendars to help us keep track. Time is a tyrant. But it is also something very precious to us. We value time with family and friends. We treasure the short time we have with our loved ones. And yet, time is something we never seem to have enough of. How often do we say things like; “I just don’t have time” or “where does the time go?” Days, weeks, months, and then years all roll by. Decades pass, and we age, we get older. Like the seasons, we are constantly changing.

 Yet, none of this is true with God. He is Eternal. He is Immortal. He has no beginning and no ending. Time has no bonds on God. He is the Creator of time, the sustainer of time. We use terms like eternity past, and eternity future to try and assist us in understanding what forever means – but in truth, God exists beyond time. He is from everlasting to everlasting (Psalms 90:2). He is ever present. One day with Him, is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day (2 Peter 3:8). It is all the same to God. His days are unending. He dwells in the perpetual now. Time does not weaken God.  Time does not alter God. God doesn’t get old. He and He alone inhabits eternity (Isaiah 57:15).

 It is good to know that the Keeper of our soul, is not under time constraints. He is not weakened, warped, or wounded by the centuries or even countless millennia. 1 Timothy 6:16 states that God alone possesses Immortality. Deuteronomy 33:27 speaks of the believers being able to rest underneath the Everlasting Arms of the Eternal God.

 The Eternality of God, is one of the fundamental truths of the Christian faith and as we continue this study, we will show that each of God’s attributes complement one another. They work in perfect unison to reveal to us God’s magnificent glory. In this case, we see that God has an Eternal Love for His children. A love that will never fade or wear out. That He loved us so much, that He purposed to save us from our sins. That in the fullness of time, the Eternal Son, made in the likeness of our flesh, would come to this sin cursed earth and die on a Roman cross and rise from the dead to redeem us to God. And the Eternal Spirit would use the everlasting gospel to reveal to us our sinfulness and our need for a Savior, and point us to Calvary, graciously granting us faith and repentance so that by faith in Christ, we may now have eternal life.

Everything you see around you – everything – had a beginning and will one day have an ending. But not God. He is the Eternal, Immortal King of Heaven and Earth; whose dominion is from Everlasting to Everlasting.

  What a Great God, indeed. 

PART 1 

PART 2

Some things you just have to wait for. Tuesdays with Timothy #31

1 Timothy 3:6-7 Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

The job of pastor is a very difficult one because the main part of the job is preaching the Word, which  in turns means rebuking, exhorting, commanding, and taking oversight. The church has to voluntarily submit to the leadership of the person they call as pastor  and this requires that the man not be a novice and that he not be, as Justice Scalia may have said, a fine practitioner in the arts of jiggery-pokery. They seem unrelated, but if I have anything to do with it, you'll see why I think they go together by the time you get to the end of the post. To add further bang for your buck, if you are wanting to be a pastor someday, you'll be that much closer to being ready by the time we are done. Because I want you to do well, allow me add this totally unnecessary sentence of fluff here to help you even more. What do they have in common, besides avenues for Satanic attack? Time. Somethings, you just have to wait for.

First, the man is not to be a novice or a new convert. You are not to call a man who has recently been saved into church leadership. The Christian life is full of ups and downs and a new convert is usually all ups for a while and if he is all ups and then ceremoniously hoisted upon the shoulders of the church and lifted up into leadership, he is in real danger of falling and falling hard.

The second area is how the man is viewed outside of the church. This is also a time related quality. It may have been that a man was a decent chap prior to the Lord saving him and he had a good reputation before. It is more likely that the man lived like a sinner and had the reputation of a sinner. The only way this can be corrected is time and a steady Christian walk. A man that has a bad reputation going into the pulpit is going to drag it with him. It will hurt both him and the church. Take for example, the man who wrote this Epistle. Saul of Tarsus had quite the reputation and not in the good way. Even after the years of service to Christ before coming to Jerusalem, his bad reputation preceded him. Only time and his dedication to Christ (along with some character references) did the trick for those in Jerusalem.

You cannot grow a good name overnight any more than you can move the distance between yourself and the day the Lord saved you except to patiently wait. If you try to fast forward or speed up the process, you are setting yourself (or the church) up for some hard times.

Now for some necessary qualifications. The novice has nothing to do with physical age, but life as a Christian. There are novices who are drawing social security and were too old to fight in Vietnam and there are some college students who have been Christians well over half their life. It also needs to be said that a faithful Christian will have rubbed people the wrong way. There will be those who hate him because they hate Christ and will have all sorts of terrible things to say about the man. Like the Accuser, they'll love to tear down his reputation. This cannot be avoided and is to be expected. I believe what this is means is he should be knows as an honest Christian man. People may not like him, but they wouldn't be afraid to buy a used car from him. They may hate his preaching and call him a religious zealot, but wouldn't care to call him as a character witness on their behalf, if they were in trouble with the law. They should be know for being a faithful Christian, not just be liked and praised by the community.

The Self-Existence of God

Guest post by: Lewis Kiger  (You can read part 1 in the series HERE)

Where did God come from? This is a question often asked. Sometimes, we who are indeed born again believers, ask this as we try to understand God more fully. But this is also a question asked by those who seek to scrutinize the Christian faith. However, the answer to either inquirer must come back to what God has said concerning Himself in His Word.  To resolve this matter, we need only to open our Bible to its first page where the Inspired Text plainly begins “In the beginning, God…” (Genesis 1:1). In the beginning of time…GOD was there. In fact, it is more accurate to say that in the beginning GOD IS. To say that God is self-existent is to say that God exists fully independent of all others. His Divine being was not brought about by any act or influence of any other. In other words, no one created God.

While our minds may find this concept difficult to grasp, I stress that it is necessary that God be fully self-existent. If there was ever anything that preceded God, anything that existed prior to God then whatever that is, must be at least equal to, if not superior to God. And any such suggestion, is not only fallacious and biased, it is irrational, and has no Biblical basis whatsoever. God is not an invention of the simple minded and needy. He is not the random result of cosmic chemical chaos. He is the Supreme Architect of all things. He is the uncaused Cause. The uncreated Creator. The God that reveals Himself to us in Holy Writ, identifies Himself as the Self-reliant, Self-existent, I AM. We read in Exodus 3:14 “And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” The same God that appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, now appears to Moses in the mount and says “go tell my people that the “I AM” has sent you.” Here He declares Himself as Jehovah. The very name itself meaning, the “Self-Existent One.” I EXIST or I AM. This is always present tense with God because He dwells beyond both space and time, and is bound by neither – He always IS. No matter when in time or eternity, GOD IS. God is the Self-Existent One. God has no origin. God simply IS.  Everything we see around us, had a beginning, and will at some point come to its end –  but not God. The Triune God of Heaven and Earth is the supreme source for all things. The Origin of all things. He is the Gracious Giver of all life; animal life, plant life, angelic life, spiritual life, and eternal life.

God is in a category all by Himself. He is not dependent upon anyone for anything and relies on no one, and depends on none. He is complete in Himself. He did not create because there was something missing in Him and He did not construct the planet and place men on it, because He needed us. No, God is perfectly and fully complete in Himself.

  If sinners are to see the Glory of God, and if saints are to be moved by the character of God, we must realign our view of God as is revealed in Holy Writ. We must proclaim a “BIG GOD.” A God that is utterly unlike us, utterly beyond us in every notable way. I submit to you that the average Christian’s notion of God is so far from being accurate that it is borderline blasphemous. No wonder the world is so dismissive of our God; we have shrunk Him down to manageable terms. We have tried to make Him fit into our own idea of who He should be. Yet, in Psalms 50:21 the Psalmist corrects this grievous error by saying, you thought that God was altogether just like you [mortal men] but He isn’t; and time will prove it. Sadly, the god that is preached in many pulpits and is spoken of in many Christian circles no more resembles the God of the Bible than the dim flickering of a candle represents the noon-day sun.

God was not crafted by the hands of man, nor can He rightly be sculpted by our own imaginations. He must be understood as He reveals Himself to be. And although we are no more than children trying to describe the indescribable, may God give us a high and holy view of Him, as He is worthy of our praise and adoration.

Rule His House- Tuesdays with Timothy #30

1 Timothy 3:4-5 One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)

When a church looks to ordain a man or looks to call a pastor they need to look at the man, but also look at his family. The man's family is a good barometer of his ability to shepherd a flock. I believe every Christian man who God has blessed with a family has the duty to shepherd his children and his wife. God ordained headship and with headship comes authority and responsibility.

The man that knows how to rule his home will usually have the skill set to know how to rule the church. The children under his roof should be in subjection to him. If they won't listen to him, it is doubtful that anyone else will either. This also tells the church that they are calling a man to lead them. The pastor has to be given a measure of authority and respect by the church if he is to lead them. A father cannot lead his family from behind and neither can a pastor.

Let me take the time (again) to say that these are overarching principles of the man's character. This doesn't not disqualify a man if he doesn't have children or if his children are grown. A man can no more make his children believers than he can raise the dead. We are saved by grace, after all. A rebellious child doesn't disqualify a man from the ministry. However, if the man's kids are setting fire to the tract rack and have proven their skill in rearranging the letters on the church sign to things that make the deacon's wife blush, then we may have a problem of leadership in the home.

Getting to know God by Lewis Kiger

Lewis Kiger, pastor of the Memorial Heights Baptist Church in Perry, GA has graciously allowed me to publish his series of articles on the attributes of God that are published in their local newspaper. In the coming weeks, look for these guest posts.  I also encourage you to check out his sermons at Sermonaudio where he faithfully exposits God's Word.

Getting to Know God 

by Lewis Kiger

How old is God? Where did God come from? What is God made of? Can God be depended upon? Is God fair? Why does God care what we do? On and on we might go, with the variety of questions people ask about the Triune God of the Bible.

 In his incredible little book, The Knowledge of the Holy, A.W. Tozer begins with these words: “What comes into our minds, when we think about God; is the most important thing about us.” It would do us well to stop and consider the weight of these words. I would like for us to begin a journey together – a journey towards a fuller knowledge of God. Let me say from the very outset of our voyage, that we will not arrive while we are clothed in these bodies of clay. There is no way that mortal men with finite minds can fully comprehend an infinite God and I doubt that even in Heaven, we will entirely understand the fullness of God. Yet it is a journey worth making. Any progress at all in the knowledge of God is important progress.

You may think, “Isn’t this kind of study only for preachers and theologians?” C.H. Spurgeon answers this objection saying, “Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the whole soul of man, as a devout, earnest, continued investigation of the great subject of the Deity. The most excellent study for expanding the soul, is the science of Christ and Him crucified and the knowledge of the Godhead in the glorious Trinity.” He goes on to say that; “the proper study of the Christian, is the Godhead. The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can engage the attention of a child of God, is the name, the nature, the person, the doings, and the existence of the great God, which he calls his Father.” The truth is, our view of God affects everything about us. Our understanding of God has a huge impact on our lives. Not merely theologically but in a practical way. High views of God, leads to high worship, lofty praise, and majestic adoration. Low views of God, leads to low worship and meager affection. A greater awareness of WHO GOD IS, will affect our lives tremendously. It will strengthen our faith in Him, increase our awe of Him, sure up our dependence on Him, and increase our thankfulness for Him. It will affect what we say, where we go, even how we think. A better understanding of God will affect our homes, our churches, our habits, our evangelism, and especially our LOVE!

In the coming weeks we will see that we must base our view of God on the Bible. On Holy Writ. The Bible is God’s revelation of Himself to us and any inquiry into the Person of God, must be based on what God declares Himself to be. The God who reveals Himself in His Word, wills to be to be loved, revered, feared, and known! But, this must be founded on more than mere human opinion, but on the foundation of God’s inerrant Word.

 What I won’t do is try to prove that God exists. God never sets out in His Word to substantiate that He is real. He simply begins His Divine Manuscript by saying, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” If mortal men will not believe Moses and the Prophets, they will not believe though one rose from the dead. And One has risen from the dead, and still men do not believe. The Lord was right, only the fool has said in his heart, there is no God.

 Finally, while we may not all agree on every point of Biblical doctrine, every believer should be able to stand with a united voice and say…what a Great God we serve! Indeed, what comes into our minds when we think about God, IS the most important thing about us.

 Join with me the next several weeks as we seek to discover more of the perfections of our God, and say with Moses, Lord show me thy glory!

Jeremiah 9:23-24 Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me…

On His Blindness

by John Milton

WHEN I consider how my light is spent
  E're half my days, in this dark world and wide,
  And that one Talent which is death to hide,
  Lodg'd with me useless, though my Soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present        
  My true account, least he returning chide,
  Doth God exact day-labour, light deny'd,
  I fondly ask; But patience to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, God doth not need
  Either man's work or his own gifts, who best
  Bear his milde yoak, they serve him best, his State
Is Kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed
  And post o're Land and Ocean without rest:
  They also serve who only stand and waite.

Stonewall Jackson

My family was traveling up towards D.C. when we lived in North Carolina and on the way up I saw a sign that said something about Stonewall Jackson. I made it a point to stop on the way home and we were excited to find that we had come upon the house where Stonewall Jackson died.

I like the history of the Civil War and have visited many historical sites, but I think this site may be my favorite. The Park employees were, not only very knowledgeable, but were quite enthusiastic in showing us around and telling us the story of his death and all the strange events that surrounded it.

Here I am, not exactly standing like a 'stone wall'. 

This is the bed that General Jackson died in. The blanket at the foot of the bed also was the same blanket that covered him.











The clock on the wall also was original. The daughter of the home was 11 years old when Stonewall died. She held on to the bed, the blanket, and the clock for over 70 years. She eventually donated them to the National Park service, and came into the home and arranged the furniture exactly how she remembered it when Stonewall passed away.

What is Expository Preaching?

"A style or method of preaching God's Word which seeks to logically expose the Biblical text to the mind the will of the congregation. The man of God is to passionately open up, uncover, and lay bare the  rich truths contained in Holy Writ and then he must urge the people of God to both understand obey the truth they have just learned, doing all of this to the glory of Jesus Christ. Expository preaching is essentially preaching the Biblical text to people with accuracy and interpretation fidelity to the original meaning so that the hearers will be understanding of who God is and what he requires. Expository preaching is a sermon from a man, who above all else want to glorify his lord by studying a passage to find out what it means to God and then to persuasively proclaiming the truth, in context, to a group of His sheep with earnestness and a desire to see God exalted."

Mike Abendroth

Read more HERE.


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A Covetous Man- Tuesdays with Timothy #29

1 Timothy 3:3 Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous

We live in a surreal time. A time when the smartest people in the world are the people who claim they don’t have the answers, but just more questions. A time when access to information is easier to get and more readily available than any time in history, but people are more ignorant and uniformed. A time when there are more Bibles in the English speaking world than ever before, but people are more spiritually ignorant than any other time. This is an age where individuals simultaneously decry the rampant consumerism of America while whining because we don’t have enough, or someone else has something that we don’t, and that just isn't fair.  Watch the presidential debates and it is easy to see we are a covetous people.

Covetousness is a very dangerous and sneaky sin and perhaps no other people in the history of the world have the temptation to this sin as we do in today in our land.  We voluntarily turn on screens in our homes and watch things designed by teams of people who went to college to train in the arts of tempting you to covetousness. Buy! Buy! Buy! You must have this, you can’t live without that; commercials on TV and radio; driving down the road seeing billboards, you can’t be happy unless you have what everyone else already bought. Happiness can only be achieved with the possession of more things—at least that is what they tell us. We have to be on guard against this because covetousness is a very dangerous sin; it rebels against the goodness of our God.

The man of God must not be a man given over to covetousness. The commandment (Exodus 20:17) tells us that it includes houses, women, servants, and possessions. It is to long for, desire, or crave anything that belongs to someone else. Covetousness is antagonistic to contentment because it looks at your neighbors, looks at others and desires what they have and leads the heart to an ungrateful attitude for what God has given you. The more you think about it, you see that it is a “sneaky sin” that can go unspotted, especially for a preacher, which is why Paul lists it among the area's of a pastor's character.

What is the preacher’s danger? The bigger house, the neighbor’s wife, the nicer car. But it also includes coveting wickedly over God’s heritage. Desiring our neighbor’s bigger congregation, or the nicer pulpit, the better outlines, or the top spots at Bible conferences. Men can covet their neighbors “Amens” and accolades for our peers. Everyone wants to be Elijah on Mount Carmel, but no one wants to eat raven leftovers by a creek.

Covetousness is purely a heart issue (Mark 7:21-22). When it works itself out, it will show up in a whole host of different ways. Whether adultery, idolatry, murder, theft, they all start with desiring something that doesn’t belong to you and that desire leads to wicked means of obtaining it.  For a preacher, you have the added temptations of gaining that bigger building or getting that bigger crowd. You know what phrase to throw out to get the big Amen’s. You know where to scratch the itch of your biggest givers. Every pastor must face these temptations anyway, but a covetous man will lead a congregation with him, or leave them behind for what his heart desires. Or, it will leave a man in such sin, that he destroys his ministry.

But, it is not sinful to desire to obtain something. Let's not have a false piety. Paul said it is good to desire the work of the pastorate (1 Timothy 3:1) and it is good to desire spiritual gifts (Corinthians 12:31). It isn’t sinful to desire God to bless your church or bless your preaching.  It isn't a sin to desire to serve the Lord is a greater way. Who in their right mind would not want to glorify God better today than they did yesterday? Who wouldn’t want to provide well for their family or increase and grow? It is not sinful to be industrious and strive to do better. It is desiring things that belong to others that God has not given you that is the problem. The commandment was not to covet they neighbors possessions.

The pastor cannot be a covetous man because he cannot serve two masters (Luke 16:13) since the desires for other things will conflict with his desire for the glory of God. 

The pastor cannot be a covetous man because God hates it Psalm 10:3  For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth. Why would God hate this sin, so much? Covetousness is an attack on the character of God.  It attacks God’s goodness to you for not giving in to all your wants.  It attacks God’s wisdom for you since you believe you need more than you have.  It attacks God’s justice towards man, saying that God isn’t fair by giving more to others than ourselves.  It attacks God’s fidelity to his promises that He will provide our needs. Covetousness is a wicked sin that must be put to death (Colossians 3:5).

The pastor cannot be given to covetousness because he will fear man rather than God. Hebrews 13:5-6 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.  So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. God has promised to provide what we need and commanded us to be content with what He has given us. Put our trust in the Lord and don't fear man.

Be content with what God has given you.  Look on your neighbor’s possessions with joy and gladness for them.  Thank the Lord for them, but don’t covet what they have. The earth is the Lord’s and fullness thereof.  Everything belongs to God in the end; He has allowed us to be stewards of a small portion for a short time.  Be content with what He has given you, and work hard in the job that God has given you, strive to improve and do the best you can and then enjoy everything God has given you for His glory.

A Patient Man- Tuesdays with Timothy #28

1 Timothy 3:3 Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous

The pastor has to be a patient man, a long-suffering, forbearing, gentle soul. Robertson says the word means "sweet reasonableness" (Matthew Arnold), moderation.". So rather than being a striker or a brawler, a man that likes to fight, he should be a man that wants peace.

This does give an interesting paradox. The man of God has to be a man who fights the good fight of faith and earnestly contends for the faith because much of the nature of the work of the pastor is that of spiritual war, a battle against sin and a battle against the false ideologies of Satan and the world system. But he has to be a man of patience, reasonableness, and peace. If we were to look at it from the flesh, it would seem you would want a fighter to fight. God wants a gentle, reasonable, peaceful man to fight. The pastoral life is a life of paradox. He can well identify with Psalm 107:6-7 My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace. I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.

The fights that Christians engage in should be fights for the honor and glory of Christ. A pastor must love the Lord Jesus Christ with such fervency, that he is willing to fight and stand, even unto death for the truth entrusted to his care. The man, who desires to see soul's saved, sinners converted, saints strengthened must so love the Word of the Lord and the Lord of the Word, that he will be dogmatic to the point of making enemies and watching friends leave him to stand for the truth rather than compromise. The patient man has to have a long fuse. Consider Moses as an example of a man who was both a fighter and a gentle man of peace.


(And yes, I realize I posted this on Wednesday. If this has caused a problem, let me know and I will give you a 100% refund and send you the next one for free)


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Filthy Lucre - Tuesdays with Timothy #27

..Not greedy of filthy lucre

A pastor cannot be a greedy man. He cannot live for riches. Money can be a great temptation and those that will be rich put themselves in a dangerous spiritual position (more to be said later in the book). One of the guideposts for a church to examine a man's character is whether or not he is eager for riches. This doesn't have anything to do with how much money a man actually has, but how much he wants it or wants to hang on to it. You can be poor as a church mouse but so greedy you'll hang on to a dollar bill until George Washington cries uncle.

The motive for desiring to be a pastor must be for the glory of God not for the money you could possibly make 1 Peter 5:1-2. A man has to be ready and able to make a stand despite the financial cost of doing so. If the pastor is greedy for money and possessions then he will administer his task with earthly riches in mind rather that what is right and what is true. Messages will be adjusted and blunted to avoid offending the big givers. Doctrines will be watered down to draw larger crowds. Compromises will be made in order to please those who control the purse. False doctrine will be preached in order to bring in more money. Look no further than the audacious riches of Rome to understand where the love of money will take you.  Loraine Boettner wrote  “The doctrine of purgatory has sometimes been referred to as ‘the gold mine of the priesthood’ since it is the source of such lucrative income. The Roman Church might well say, ‘By this craft we have our wealth.’”

That being said, the church should do all it can to support their pastor's ministry (Acts 6:4; 1 Corinthians 9:9;1 Timothy 5:18). The church doesn't pay the pastor so much as they support his ministry. He is not an employee, he is a servant of Christ unto the church. It is not the churches duty to ensure the pastor stays humble, God takes care of that.

Sentimental about a Barlow

Upon memorizing the Beatitudes, Tom Sawyer received quite the prize:

"Mary gave him a brand-new "Barlow" knife worth twelve and a half cents; and the convulsion of delight that swept his system shook him to his foundations. True, the knife would not cut anything, but it was a "sure-enough" Barlow and there was inconceivable grandeur in that—though where the Western boys ever got the idea that such a weapon could possibly be counterfeited to its injury, is an imposing mystery and will always remain so, perhaps. Tom contrived to scarify the cupboard with it, and was arranging to begin on the bureau, when he was called off to dress for Sunday-school."

My Grandpa Doug carried a Barlow knife that I coveted as a boy. "Sure-enough" was one of his favorite phrases and when I hear it I immediately smile and think of him. I don't know if he ever scarified a cupboard with it or any other knife, but he did earn a Purple Heart in WWII and still works his Apple Orchard in the hills of Eastern Kentucky. Tom Sawyer's story is told in his book and some of by Grandpa's story is in THIS one, around page 98. 

Funny how a guy can get sentimental about a Barlow pocket knife from a children's book. 


DPN

It will cost you everything.

Even Stranger in the Age of Facebook

"After the hymn had been sung, the Rev. Mr. Sprague turned himself into a bulletin-board, and read off "notices" of meetings and societies and things till it seemed that the list would stretch out to the crack of doom—a queer custom which is still kept up in America, even in cities, away here in this age of abundant newspapers. Often, the less there is to justify a traditional custom, the harder it is to get rid of it."

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - Mark Twain

Pastor's Personal Piety, Particularly in Prayer and Pondering Scripture

I did try for at least a minute to come up with another "P"

I've been reading a work on Andrew Fuller and thus far, have enjoyed it. It isn't a traditional biography, but if you are unfamiliar with Fuller, this would be a good place to start to get an idea of who the man was and why he is important. One such glimpse of the man was a section talking about his ministry. Brewster writes, then quotes:

"The ministers of the Northamptonshire Baptist Association were a close knit group. One of the appealing aspects of Fuller’s move to Kettering was that from that central location, he could attend the association’s weekly ministers’meeting. At one of these meetings, the conversation revealed the premium Fuller and his friends placed on prayer and Scripture reading in the life of the pastor: 

"Today we had a ministers’meeting at Northampton. I preached on being Of one spirit with Christ and heard bro. Sutcliff on Divine Sovereignty from Rom. 9, and bro. Skinner on Psalm 139 Search me and try me. But the best part of the day was, I think, in conversation. A question was put and discussed, to the following purport: To what causes in ministers may much of their want of success be imputed? The answer much turned upon the want of personal religion, particularly the want of close dealing with God in closet prayer. Jeremiah 10:21 was here referred to, “Their pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the Lord; therefore they shall not prosper, and their flocks shall be scattered.”Another reason assigned was the want of reading and studying the Scriptures more as Christians, for the edification of our own souls. We are too apt to study them merely to find out something to say to others, without living upon the truth ourselves. If we eat not the book, before we deliver its contents to others, we may expect the Holy Spirit will not much accompany us. If we study the Scriptures as Christians, the more we shall feel their importance; but, if otherwise, our familiarity with the word will be like that of soldiers and doctors with death—it will wear away all sense of its importance from our minds. To enforce this sentiment, Proverbs 22:17,18, was referred to, “Apply thine heart to knowledge—the words of the wise will be pleasant if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips.”To this might have been added Psalm 1:2,3.65"

A Pugnacious Parson - Tuesdays with Timothy #26

1 Timothy 3:3 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;

No striker. A pugnacious pastor will not be a profitable parson.  Or put in a not so alliterative way, your pastor should not be a quarrelsome person. A minister of grace should not be all the time looking for a fight.

An ambassador for the Prince of Peace ought to be a man of peace. A herald with a chip on his shoulder is incongruous to the Lamb of God that laid down his life for the sheep. A pastor is not to lay a hand on God's people - he isn't to be a brawler with his fists or his tongue. A man with an ungoverned temper has no business as a pastor. The adolescent bravado and the boyishness that passed for masculinity that was popular a few years ago in the New Calvinist circles was not a sign of manliness but an evident token that these men were not qualified for the pastorate. Follow the trajectory of their ministries, you can see how it played out as disastrous for the people in their churches. Christlikeness is portrayed in the book of Proverbs and proverbs is clear on how a real man should act (Proverbs 15:18; Proverbs 14:29; Proverbs 16:28; Proverbs 26:21; Proverbs 29:22; Proverbs 19:11).

Does this make the man a milquetoast? Of course not, the pastor has to be a fighter. Spurgeon once said something along the lines that God’s people are born into this world like the men of Sparta – warriors. We are born for battle and a pastor must be a fighter, not out of choice but out of necessity. He must contend for the faith. He must fight against his own lusts and sins. He must fight against his emotions and to bow the knee to Scripture (Proverbs 16:32). There are fights against heresy, and fights against the devil; but our fights are spiritual battles fought with spiritual weapons.

Shut it on Something

"And the difference between us was very deep, because it was a difference as to the object of the whole thing called broad-mindedness or the opening of the intelect. For my friend said that he opened his intellect as the sun opens the fans a palm tree, opening for opening's sake, opening infinitely for ever. But I said I opened my intellect as I opened my mouth, in order to shut it again on something solid. I was doing it at the moment. And as I truly pointed out, it would look uncommonly silly if I went on opening my mouth infinitely, for ever and ever."

GK Chesterton Tremendous Triffles

Not a Drunk - Tuesdays with Timothy # 25

A Bishop must.. not be given to wine.

You can't have your pastor be a drunk. He can't linger on the bottle and sit long at the bar. The verse prohibits the man from being one who has an uncontrollable appetite for drinking. This verse does not demand that a pastor be a teetotaler. It may not be wise for a pastor to drink wine. It might not be helpful and might be a hindrance to minister in the context in which a pastor lives and serves. This verse doesn't say whether or not there is wisdom in drinking wine, nor does it say whether it is good to drink wine, it just says the line is that a man cannot be addicted to it. My personal feelings about it and my convictions about it really don't matter here. All that matters is what God says.

In order to make wine sinful you have to redefine words and removed the plain meaning of the English language. You can’t say that when Jesus turned the water into wine, it was actually grape juice and then say when Paul said not to be given to wine, he meant alcohol. I guess you can do that, but you can’t do that without twisting words like a nervous girl does her pigtails. The Lord Jesus himself drank wine and was called a winebibber, unless you think men insulted Jesus by accusing him of drinking too much grape juice.

If I am to bow the knee to Jesus, then I have to bow the knee to His Word, whether I like it or not. Whether or not I am in agreement with other men or not. I cannot presuppose my doctrine is true and go to the book to prove it. Many in the USA grow up with the idea that wine and strong drink are the Devil’s brew and even for some to submit to the Lord’s Supper requires faith and the breaking of our will and some of our preconceived notions. I grew up in a context that any strong drink whatsoever, was considered great evil.

The problem comes from the presuppositions and the starting point. If you say “wine is evil” and start from that point and work your way out, you will find a way to justify your notion. If you start from the point “what does the Bible say about wine and what was the Biblical position of those men in the Bible” you’ll come to another conclusion entirely.

Mark 7:9  And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.

Alcohol is not evil. This can be a shocking statement for people, but it is a Biblical one.  Alcohol is an inanimate object, it is God’s creation and is neither good nor evil of itself. The Bible does not forbid the use of alcohol, but the Word of God forbids drunkenness. The Bible, nowhere, prohibits the use of wine.  Something is only sinful if God says it is sinful. I will not be put under any person’s laws. 

What does the Bible say about wine?

Wine is a good gift.

Psalms 104:14-15  He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food  out of the earth;  (15)  And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man's heart.

Deuteronomy 14:24-26  And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the LORD thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the LORD thy God hath blessed thee:  (25)  Then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine  hand, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose:  (26)  And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household,

Judges 9:13 And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?

Wine is and was used in the worship of God, so it cannot be evil.

The Churches Used Wine in the New Testament (I Cor 11:20-22) and it is the cup of blessing (1 Corinthians 10:16).

Numbers 15:7  And for a drink offering thou shalt offer the third part of an hin of wine, for a sweet savour unto the LORD.

Exodus 29:40  And with the one lamb a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil; and the fourth part of an hin of wine for a drink offering.

Leviticus 23:13  And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin.

So. Long story short, a pastor can't be a drunk and has the freedom to drink wine and has the freedom to go without. 

Monday Verse - The Dying Christian To His Soul

by Alexander Pope

Vital spark of heav’nly flame!
Quit, O quit this mortal frame:
Trembling, hoping, ling’ring, flying,
O the pain, the bliss of dying!
Cease, fond Nature, cease thy strife,
And let me languish into life.

Hark! they whisper; angels say,
Sister Spirit, come away!
What is this absorbs me quite?
Steals my senses, shuts my sight,
Drowns my spirits, draws my breath?
Tell me, my soul, can this be death?

The world recedes; it disappears!
Heav’n opens on my eyes! my ears
With sounds seraphic ring!
Lend, lend your wings! I mount! I fly!
O Grave! where is thy victory?
O Death! where is thy sting?

How C.H. Spurgeon Killed a Man

From the book "The Life Of Charles Haddon Spurgeon" by Charles Ray:

"Little Charles, not yet  six years old, had witnessed the grief of the good old minister over the inconsistent conduct of one of his flock, a man who frequented the village inn, drinking and smoking among ungodly companions. One day the boy astonished his grandfather by declaring "I'll kill old Roads, that I will!” The pastor reproved the child, telling him that if he did anything wrong, he would be taken by the police. But the child, very serious and very much in earnest, repeated that he would kill old Roads, though he would not do anything wrong. The grandfather was puzzled, but he let the subject drop and it passed from his mind.

Shortly afterwards, however, the child came into his grandfather's room, saying, “I’ve killed old Roads, he'll never grieve my dear grandpa anymore."

“My dear child," said the minister, in some alarm at the boy's serious tone, “whatever have you done ? "

“I haven't been doing any harm, grandpa," he replied. “I’ve been about the Lord's work, that's all." And from the child nothing further could be elicited.

The mystery was cleared up by old Roads himself, who called upon the pastor, and with a shamefaced air told how he had been “killed." “I was a-sitting in the public, just having my pipe and mug of beer," he said, " when that child comes in to think an old man like me should be took to task and reproved by a bit of a child like that!

Well, he points at me with his finger, just so, and says, ' What doest thou here, Elijah, sitting with the ungodly? And you a member of a church and breaking your pastor's heart. I'm ashamed of you! I wouldn't break my pastor's heart, I'm sure.' And then he walks away. Well, I did feel angry; but I knew it was all true and I was guilty; so I put down my pipe and did not touch my beer, but hurried away to a lonely spot and cast myself down before the Lord confessing my sin and begging for forgiveness. And I do know and believe the Lord in mercy pardoned me; and now I've come to ask you to forgive me and I'll never grieve you any more, my dear pastor."

 It was Charles Haddon Spurgeon's first mission, and was attended with the wonderful success which resulted from his great efforts in after life. The backslider's restoration was evidently genuine and lasting, for Mr. Houchin, the Rev. James Spurgeon's successor at Stamboume, declared many years afterwards that Thomas Roads was “an earnest and zealous Christian, striving to be useful in every way possible to him, especially in the prayer meetings and among the young people; opening his house for Christian conversation and prayer."

The Church and Training

What is the best way to train up pastors? I believe it to be in the context of the local church. I am not one to bash the seminaries even though there is quite a bit of low hanging fruit there to take a steady swing and knock it right off the tree. In fact, I would have liked to have taken advantage of educational opportunities earlier in my life. However, I am not ashamed of the course I took and feel that in many ways this may be preferable to the standard we have today. In fact, I believe that this may be the on course forward if things continue on as they are in this country.

What is a young seminarian to do when he leaves the hallowed halls of higher education, $40,000 in the hole and pastors a small church? Will he pastor a small church at all? There is a place for scholarship, and there is real danger to a people who will ignore the pursuit of it. There is a place for seminary. However, Paul did not instruct Timothy to start a school, but it was his primary focus to train up men and concentrate his energies in training up others for the ministry in the local church. 

I am forever grateful to my Dad, my former pastor, for his diligence in training me. For 10 years, he instructed and guided me in the scriptures, theology, and practical theology. He guided my reading and pointed me in the right direction with trusted authors, commentaries, and essential books. He, likewise, received his training from his faithful pastors. This is the normal way of training and I'm comfortable being in the good company of Baptists.

I had this thought confirmed recently when reading through Andrew Fuller: Model Pastor-Theologian, by Paul Brewster who said"

"Past generations of Baptists also assumed that congregational health traces back directly to the influences of pastors. For all the changes in worship services and styles that have occurred across nearly 400 years of Baptist history, the pastor’s sermon remains the focal event in the vast majority of these churches. During those moments in the pulpit, pastors set the theological tone for their congregations. James Petigru Boyce (1827–88), a towering figure in American Baptist theological education, recognized the vital connection between the theological soundness of pastors and the congregations they serve and influence. Speaking of pastors who were not well grounded in theology, Boyce said, “It is needless to say of these that the churches do not grow under their ministry; that, not having partaken strong meat, they cannot impart it.” Given that theology and church health are inseparable and that the primary theological influence in the church comes from the pastor, it is apparent that pastor-theologians are much needed today. But how will such men be formed for the Baptist ministry today? In the years before institutions for theological education were common in Baptist life, pastors almost invariably entered the ministry through an informal system of apprenticeship.10 Older men took on assistants in local church ministry and served as models of pastoral work. They also were involved in the theological formation of these men through programs of directed reading. Once these novitiates were deemed ready to serve on their own, they were presented as candidates to churches seeking pastors. Not infrequently, these apprentices would step into the role of the senior minister at their mentor’s death."

Apt to Teach - Tuesdays with Timothy #24

Apt to teach.

The local church is the place where men learn to preach and I believe that the local church has a responsibility to train up men in the ministry and give them a place to preach from time to time. Preaching is something that you cannot learn from books and the only way you can get better at preaching is to preach. If a man has a desire to be a pastor, the church he is a member of has a responsibility to the man (and future generations of hearers) to help him to grow in the gifts he has and also to make sure that he has the gifts. This can only be done by allowing the man to preach. A church that is active in training up men are going to hear badly delivered sermons for the glory of God. Every church has to understand that the longer a man preaches, the better he is going to get at it (in most cases, anyway). 

A church can be so eager and excited when man says he wants to preach that we throw him to the task without helping him and making sure he is ready to go. One of the big areas that a church can help a man is in the ability to teach. So if a man has all the other markers, but he isn't skillful in teaching, I think this is the churches responsibility to help him before sending him out. We don't stamp DISQUALIFIED on the man's head if he struggles for a while, but the church can and should help him. This is where men who desire to be in the ministry can look at themselves and honestly evaluate their lives and sure up areas where they are lacking. Teaching is an art and it can be taught. Some men are, by nature, equipped with a natural ability to teach others but that natural ability is something that is defined by particular rules to the art of teaching. R.L. Dabney, in his textbook on preaching Sacred Rhetoric said of the art of rhetoric: 

The assumption that the preacher's sacred attitude is above rhetoric reveals ignorance of the nature of true art. Let us then, at the outset, seek a correct conception of it. And we may be led to this idea by considering the distinction between art and artifice. Art is but the rational adjustment of means to an end. (Art, from Ars (root, art-is) which is from Greek apa, to adjust, whence aprwu, aprof, joined. Art is, therefore, adjustment.) Art is adaptation ; it employs proper means for a worthy end ; it is but wisdom in application. Artifice is false ; it adopts deceitful means for a treacherous end... 

I assert that all true art is natural. If man is by nature a creature of reason and conscience; if duty, forecast, judgment, will, desire of legitimate success, are natural to him, then surely he does not obey, but violates his nature when he discards the use of adapted means for his ends. If there are gifted souls who, without that detailed study of art which is necessary for us common mortals, are able to effectuate their ends more nobly than we with all our labour, then the explanation is that their more powerful genius has only made a quicker and easier intuition of their art. To reach that pinnacle of efficiency, they have ascended the common stairway, for there is no other. The difference is, that while we climb it step by step, their superior vigor enables them to bound up it with almost unconscious effort. Moreover, it is not true that these advocates of pure nature discard art. They are not naturally so natural as they claim to be.

There is an art to teaching and even if you have the natural ability of a teacher, you should work to improve that ability. Even those who are natural and gifted teachers play by the same rules as those who need to study and work hard to learn to teach. A musician may be gifted to play the piano by ear and have natural ability, but that doesn't mean he can mash any group of keys he wants and it makes a beautiful melody. The best preacher I ever knew spent his whole life getting better. He was always perfecting the craft or the art of preaching. Anything we do for the Lord, we ought to do with all our might and to the best of our ability, and preaching is not excluded. Preachers should never stop trying to get better as a preacher.

 I knew a man who went to a church that believed it unspiritual to think about what you were going to preach before you got to church. They had a bench behind the pulpit and 5 preachers sat there every service. The congregation would sing while these men bowed their heads and prayed until the Lord "spoke" to one of the men. Whoever the Lord spoke to first got to preach that night. My friend told me that it was all very spiritual and that only an infidel would think about what he was going to preach prior to standing behind the pulpit; lack of faith and such. He did tell me that he thought it strange that the preachers usually preached on the same verses and would say the same things every time. Usually about women wearing pants and people drinking beer on Sunday. Somehow I doubt that the God who ordained the end from the beginning, and elected us before the foundation of the world, would frown upon our forethought prior to preaching His Word as somehow being "unspiritual". 

How does this work itself out practically? Personally, I try to always be reading a book on preaching or a book on writing. When I finish one, I try and start on another and just keep plodding along. One reason I stick with the blog is practice writing because writing helps you become a better preacher. Anyone can stand up and chat for 30 minutes and wander hither and yon, but if you are going to write, you have to put your thoughts in some kind of order and in a way that people will understand what you are trying to say. This helps a man to teach because it helps to train a man to get the thoughts out of his head and into words in a way that makes sense. The better you are a doing this, the better a teacher you will be. 

A teacher also has to have patience. When a church looks to call a man into the pastorate, he is going to know more than a good number of the church members. There are going to be a lot of people who just don’t know much about the Bible, whether they be children, young converts, or lazy believers. The man of God will have to teach the same thing, over and over and over and not get tired of telling the same things in different ways. He will have to be patient that when he teaches on thanksgiving, that he hears people complaining about the weather after the service and the like. Patience, know that no one grows in a day, and it has taken all of our lives to get where we are now, and it will take the rest of our lives for us to get where we will finally be. 

A teacher has to have humility. By humility, I don’t mean the false humility of post-modernity that says that it is arrogant to claim to know something with certainty. Years ago I had a lady yell at me in a restaurant because she said I was arrogant because I was saying definitely that Christ rose from the dead. Her idea of humility was saying that I could be wrong.

The humility I speak of is understanding that the Bible is a spiritual book and that God the Holy Spirit enlightens men to the truths of His Word. Without the Spirit’s help, the best teacher in the world cannot impart truth to the hearers. A humility that when we try to do our best, our best will never be good enough to give life to the dead or sight to the blind. Humility that we are mere jars of clay, imperfect vessels carrying perfect message and that our broken, frail, feeble efforts will only be effectual if empowered by God’s Holy Spirit.

I don't think anyone has every reached the mark of perfection as a teacher and even the best can get better. Vine's defined the word as "skillful in teaching" so that tells us there is a level of ability involved and skill to be learned. I have heard a lot of men who disqualified others who themselves couldn't teach a hound dog to howl at a possum on the porch.  Each church and each man is going to have to read this passage and decide whether or not they meet the standard in a way that they are confident of God's calling. 

Monday Verse: The Happy Life of a Country Parson

by Alexander Pope

PARSON, these things in thy possessing
Are better than the bishop’s blessing:
A wife that makes conserves; a steed
That carries double when there ’s need;

October store, and best Virginia,        
Tythe pig, and mortuary guinea;
Gazettes sent gratis down and frank’d,
For which thy patron’s weekly thank’d;
A large Concordance, bound long since;

Sermons to Charles the First, when prince;        
A Chronicle of ancient standing;
A Chrysostom to smooth thy band in;
The Polyglott—three parts—my text,
Howbeit—likewise—now to my next;

Lo here the Septuagint—and Paul,        
To sum the whole—the close of all.
  He that has these may pass his life,
Drink with the ’Squire, and kiss his wife;
On Sundays preach, and eat his fill,

And fast on Fridays—if he will;        
Toast Church and Queen, explain the news,
Talk with Churchwardens about pews,
Pray heartily for some new gift,
And shake his head at Doctor Swift.

Terms, defined

"In his Semantics of Biblical Language,5 James Barr warned biblical scholars of the fallacy of supposing that the meanings of biblical terms were loaded with theological content. The meaning of Scripture comes not from its individual terms, but from its sentences, paragraphs, books, and larger units. For example, the word created, just by itself, out of all context, teaches us nothing. But “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth”(Gen. 1:1) teaches us a great deal. “By him all things were created”(Col. 1:16) teaches us even more."

John Frame, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Christian Belief 

A Practical Treaties on Fear

John Flavel

"If a man do really look to God in a day of trouble and fear as to the Lord of hosts, i.e. one that governs all the creatures, and all their actions; at whose beck and command all the armies of heaven and earth are, and then can rely upon the care and love of this God, as a child in danger of trouble reposes on, and commits him-self with greater confidence to the care and protection of his father: O what peace, what rest, must necessarily follow upon this! Who would be afraid to pass through the midst of armed troops and regiments, whilst he knows that the general of the army is his own father? The more power this filial fear of God obtains in our hearts, the less will you dread the power of the creature."

Missiles, with a side of splinters

“In others the Sabbaths of the people are wholly occupied with those polemics by which the outworks of Christianity should be defended against the foreign assaults of infidel philosophy; as though one would feed the flock within the fold with the bristling missiles which should have been hurled against the wolves without. Others deal in scholastic discussions of the propositions of church-symbols, cleaving the “bare bones of their orthodoxy" into splinters as angular and dry as the gravel of the desert. Others again offer metaphysical discussions of the psychology of religion, as though they would feed the babes of Christ with a sort of chemical resolution of the sincere milk of the Word into its ultimate elements, instead of the living, concrete nourishment provided for them by their Saviour. Now what is this but the very spirit of unbelief and self- seeking? The selection of such forms of truth is evidently not guided by the lowly, self-devoted spirit of the “servant" of the Church, but by a single eye to self-display. God puts the "sword of the Spirit" into this man's hand, and tells him that with this he shall conquer. He distrusts it, he will add something more trenchant. God tells him that the “Word is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." “No," says the unbelieving servant, " I can devise truths more piercing." These, my brethren, are not the men to do the work of that God who “hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise." Theirs is the spirit of infidelity, and their preaching breeds infidelity.”

R.L. Dabney Sacred Rhetoric

I love the metaphors.

You can't feed the flock with the missiles you ought to be firing at the wolves.

Don’t parse the bare bones of church truth until there is nothing left but splinters.

Feed the babes of Christ milk, don't feed them the chemical formula.

Preach the Word. Tell the people what God has said. Of course, the Bible fires missiles at the wolves, and church truth is advanced and there is milk as well as meat - but I believe what is being discussed is the need for exegetical balance in preaching. 

Tuesdays with Timothy #23

I Timothy 3:2 A bishop then must be ... vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality...

When a church is looking for a pastor or when a man is desires to be a pastor, God has provided some bullet points for consideration. As I said before, no man can be everything listed. There is only one perfect pastor and his name is Jesus. However, these are the markers to which pastors should strive and should be either close or on the way their. These, I believe, are markers of a man's overall character.

The pastor of a church must be vigilant, and sober. He is to be a temperate, sound minded man. A sober life and a sound mind should be the character of a man of God. A pastor needs to be one who can control himself and his emotions. He is to be vigilant and in this context, the man is to be vigilant over himself and his passions.  He is to keep his body in subjection and be attentive to his soul. He is not only to keep a watch-out for the sins of the flock, but especially of the sins of his own soul. While he has been entrusted to care for the flock of God, he is himself in a precarious situation, that he must also be vigilant over himself. This vigilance along with sober-mindedness is sometimes confused with stoicism, which is not a Christian ethic. We are not to be emotionless (Philippians 3:18; Acts 20:19,30,31; Romans 9:2; 2 Corinthians 2:4; 2 Corinthians 11:29) but rather we are not to be ruled by our emotions.

The pastor is also to be a man of good behavior. He needs to be an orderly, and modest man. The Greek word is related to the word used in I Timothy 2:9 speaking of women dressing modestly. I'm not going to lay down hard and fast rules for good behavior in a man any more than I laid down rules for women's dress. While I do have respect for the weaker brother, my life isn't dictated by the demands of the perpetual weaker brother. There are some whose spiritual gift seems to be getting offended by something someone has done, said, or thought; some atrocity that might be the least bit out of what they deem good and proper. Instead of mourners benches, some churches need to install fainting couches for those who are continually getting a touch of the vapors at any sign of manly originality or eccentric behavior. There was once a person who met their pastor at a social event in the city and the lady was outraged that her pastor was there. "Why, this is no place for a pastor!" If it was no place for the pastor, it was no place for the church member either.

That being said, the pastor does need to be mindful that he walks this earth under the Lordship of Christ and that his behavior needs to reflect that. He needs to be the kind of man that will return his shopping cart to the buggy stall in the Wal-Mart parking and pick up trash if he drops it on the street. Not to be seen of men, but rather it is being kind and loving to his neighbors. It is that kind of character and good behavior that should mark God's people. The people of God should be the best citizens and the pastor should take the lead. I worked with a man once who said he was a preacher, but in reality he was a scoundrel. When people caught him in lies and deception, they didn't say "this man is no preacher" but rather said "this is who preachers are".

The pastor ought to be a hospitable man and hospitality should be defined by the Word of God and not Southern Living magazine. He should be welcoming to those who come into the house of God and should be welcoming to those who come into his home. I was listening to a well-known pastor do a Q&A session with his church online. Each person would step up to the microphone and state his name, then his question. The man stood up to the mic, the pastor asked his name, and then said "I've been a member of this church for 20 years." I was struck by the fact that this pastor didn't know the name of a man who had been coming to his church for two decades and the man didn't seem to mind either. He may be an extraordinary preacher and he may be the worlds finest expositor, but how can you be a pastor if you don't know the names of the people who you have been preaching to for twenty years? Of course, let us be mindful that our rules of hospitality should not be imposed upon other men and we all need to live patiently with one another.

Let's also try not be too quick to write a person off because they had a bad day in any of these areas. We are very quick to judge other people for their failures and just as quick to excuse ours. So if you see a man not take his buggy back to the corral at Wal-Mart, don't bring him up on disciplinary charges.

Monday Verse: Ode on Solitude

By: Alexander Pope

Happy the man, whose wish and care
   A few paternal acres bound,
Content to breathe his native air,
                            In his own ground.

Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread,
   Whose flocks supply him with attire,
Whose trees in summer yield him shade,
                            In winter fire.

Blest, who can unconcernedly find
   Hours, days, and years slide soft away,
In health of body, peace of mind,
                            Quiet by day,

Sound sleep by night; study and ease,
   Together mixed; sweet recreation;
And innocence, which most does please,
                            With meditation.

Thus let me live, unseen, unknown;
   Thus unlamented let me die;
Steal from the world, and not a stone
                            Tell where I lie.


Copied from The Poetry Foundation


DPN

Marginalia

A few thoughts about a few books I've read. Not necessarily endorsements and hardly reviews.

Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass

There is a temptation to speak of slavery as an institution and forget the individual souls of those in bondage. Two things struck me. First, the way in which owning a slave hardened the heart of the slave-owner, it destroyed them.  Isn’t that the way of sin? Sin destroys the person who is embodied in it. This is why any sin will send you to Hell, but not all sins are the same. There is a difference in telling a lie, being a liar, and then being Bob, the Liar. One is a sin (which is awful). The second is being captive by that sin. The third is being captive by the sin and then finding your identity IN that sin. The slave holder was the slave holder. That was his identity and that destroyed him.

The second thing was the way the slave holders described in the book deliberately and maliciously terrorized the minds and broke the will of the slaves. They took their dignity and with their dignity, their will to think.

 A lot to learn from this book, especially the appendix talking about the churchmen who enslaved him. These churches would take up a collection to send Bibles to the heathens overseas, while denying the Bible to the heathens on their farms. We can still fall into this trap. It is always easier to send money to someone else to go somewhere else and preach to someone else than to those among us...but I digress.

Unbroken by Laura

Wow. Buy this book and read it, if you haven't and thank me later.  At one point I wondered if it could possibly get any worse for Louie. I was only half way through and it did get worse, much. But the bitter only made the sweet that much better This book illustrates the importance of identity and dignity to the human soul and how loosing that or having it taken from you destroys the person.

Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang

A really disturbing book. I had to set it down for a while and go back to it again because of the darkness and depravity. It was a chilling reminder of the depth of depravity found in the unregenerate human heart.  I've been on a WWII kick for a while but my interests have been focused in the Pacific theater. It is astounding how bad the Japanese were and how quickly their image was repaired and the atrocities all but forgotten, while the Nazi's continue to be the symbol of evil of the war. The Nazi’s certainly deserve the ire we heap upon them, but I think we do a disservice to forget what happened in the Pacific.

Absolute Authority

"God’s authority is also absolute in the sense that his covenant transcends all other loyalties . We are to have no other gods before the Lord (Ex. 20:3). We are to love him with all our heart; there should be no competing loyalties (Deut. 6:4–5; Matt. 22:37). The Lord is the head of the covenant, and he forbids us to grant lordship to anyone else.  

Jesus strikingly claims deity by demanding the same kind of exclusive loyalty for himself. “Honor your father and your mother” (Ex. 20:12) is one of the fundamental commandments of the law, one that Jesus fully honors and urges against those who would dilute its force (Matt. 15:1–9). Nevertheless, Jesus demands of his disciples a loyalty that transcends the loyalty that we owe to our parents. In Matthew 8:19–22 and 10:34–38, he teaches that the demands of discipleship take priority over duties to our parents. Only God can legitimately make such a demand.  

The principle sola Scriptura follows from this teaching. No other authority may compete with God’s own words. No words may be added to God’s or put on the same level of authority (Deut. 4:2; 12:32; Isa. 29:13; Matt. 15:8–9). It is wrong to bind the consciences of God’s people by mere human traditions. Only the word of God has ultimate authority."

John Frame - Systematic Theology